Improvement in the manufacture of boots and shoes



UNITED ST WILLIAM DUCHEMIN AND ALBERT J EFFERS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 6,330, dated August 27, 1867.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM DUCHEMIN and ALBERT JEFFERS, of Lynn, in the county ofEssex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improved Mode ot- Channeling the Soles of Boots and Shoes, for use in conjunction with a sewing-machine 5 and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being 4 had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a top View, and Fig. 2 a vertical section, of a portion of a sole as channeled by our process, and ready for application to the boot or shoe. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of such sole with the stitching inserted, and with the sole iinished over such stitching. Fig. et is a representation of the old mode of channeling. Fig. 5 is a front view, Fig. 6 a side View, Fig. 7 a rear view, and Fig. 8 a vertical section, of the tool for forming the channel.

The object of this invention is not only to reduce the cost of manufacture of a boot or shoe to some extent, but to greatly improve its appearance, as well as its wearing qualities.

The invention consists,first, in the peculiar mode of forming the thread-receiving channel, and closing the leather down upon the stitching in such manner that the said stitching is compressed and reduced in bulk, and is buried Within the leather,which is also compressed to such an extent as not to 'be exposed until the shoe or boot has been subjected to considerable wear, the sole also having a finished appearance, and the joint being imperceptible from the outside.

The invention further consists in the construction of the channeling-tool for forming the channel above referred to, substantially as hereinafter explained.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, A denotes the bodyof the said tool, it being a steel bar of proper size, the lower end of which is made into alform very much resembling a miniature land-plow in construction and operation, with the exception of a hollow cutter below it. Its extreme lower end is formed into a cutter, a, which is semicircular, or thereabout, in cross-section, and of considerable less width than the bulk ofthe bar, the metal above as well as in advance of such cutter being made into a central beak or plowshare, b, and a mold-board, c, upon each side. A scoring-point or colter, d, is applied to the front face ofthe bar A, and in advance of the beak b, the object of such point being to score or crease the leather, and prepare the way for the action of the remaining portion ot' the tool.

The tool, made as abovedescribed, may be inserted in the ordinary channeling-machine.

The sole, under the action of the machine, is drawn along under the tool, which takes into it such a depth and in such manner that its cutter a shall cut a groove or channel, K, for receiving the thread or row of stitching, While its beak b and mold-boards c c throw up and compress the leather on each side of such channel into wrinkled edges or ribs m m, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings. The sole is now applied to the boot in the usual manner, and put into the sewing-machine, the stitching of which tlls, or, rather, more than fills, the channel K. The boot is now removed from the sewing-machine, and subjected to the action of a compressing implement or machine of suitable construction, which passes over it in a direction opposite to that in which the channeling-tool traversed it, the action of such compressing implement having the eect of smoothing down, and returning to place, the edges m m, which meet and close over the row of stitching, and render the joining imperceptible from the outside. The action of the compressing implement also compresses the leather in all directions immediately about the stitching, and makes it, to some extent, homogeneous, and requiring no cement, and, further, makes a solid bearing-surface or tread to the sole. This compression, caused by the said implement, also serves to contract and reduce the chain stitch, into which the thread is formed by the sewing-machine, and causes it to resemble in appearance and Wear, and in non-liability to rip, the ordinary hand-stitch.

The ordinary way of channeling soles, when the boot is secured in a machine, is to cut and turn up from the outside edge of the sole a horizontal lip, l, (see Fig. 4 of the drawings,) and at the joining of the lip and sole to cut a channel, m', for the reception of the stitching, this lip Z being subsequently returned to place and cemented in order to cause the parts to adhere together. Under the Wear of the boot and moisture this cement is destroyed, and, as is well known, the lip l'separates from the sole in many cases, and leaves an unsightly, ragged edge to the boot. Further, more or less cement gets upon and adheres to the edge of the sole, and renders the subsequent operation of polishing or slicking-up the. edge.

difficult and imperfectly performed.

The advantages of our mode of channeling l are several: First, as before stated, the cost of manufacture is reduced, as the time employed in applying, as well as the expense of,

the cement isi saved 5' second, there is-no liai bility, as in the old mode, of the lip separating from the sole and injuring the appearance of the boot, the wear or'pressure upon the sole having a tendency rather to force the edges of the joint together; third, the stitching, asbefore stated, is compressed into such a shape as to very much reduce its bulk, and render it difficult, it' not impossible, toravel it, this being a very important feature in our invention 5 fourth, there is no cement em ployed', and, consequently, no possibility of smearing the edge of the sole, and preventing it from re ceiving the proper` finish and polish?.

We d'o not claimv a channel formed in the sole, having lips meeting over ,its center, for we are aware that the same has been patented to Charles H. Trash and Joseph B. Johnson under.' date of February 20, 1866;y but our application is principally directed to the particular method of and means for throwing up the lipsl andiy forming the channel. 

